Introduction

In the 1960s and 1970s the study of history and sociology was heavily influenced by Marxism and theories of class. But the collapse of Communism and significant changes in culture and society threw the study of class into crisis. Its most basic premises were called into question.

More recently accelerating globalisation, proliferating multinational corporations and unbridled free-market capitalism have given the study of class a new significance and caused historians and sociologists to revisit the debate.

This book looks at the changes that caused the crisis in the study of class and shows how new, vibrant theories have appeared that will drive forward our understanding of history and sociology.